Free Falling
by OverCompulsiveNoteTaker-QAQ
Summary: One person can make a difference. Imagine how different HTTYD would be if Hiccup had a friend, just one friend, at the start. Perhaps then things would have gone differently for the future of Berk and Hiccup's destiny. Take a look inside, you'd be surprised at how much one person can change things.


Authors Note: Hey! So, this is my first HTTYD fanfiction, yay! Sorry if it's terrible and all ^^' but I'm doing my best! Yes, this does contain an OC, but I do ask you to at least give this a shot. Comments are always appreciated but please, do try to keep them polite. I will not pay attention to comments that are meant to instigate, disrespect, or belittle. Be nice in the comments folks. If you find there is something I need to work on, correct, or just have a few tips to share, then comment or PM me. If a part of the story is inaccurate, notify me. If you read this, thanks for taking the time to read ^^

Hockey pucks and Christmas hugs, ~Nordic.

* * *

'This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery.'

A small village was settled on a seemingly desolate island, looking a bit worn down but lively. When I say lively, I don't mean happy. I mean lively as in there are currently giant men running around wielding axes and dragons spitting fire at every moving, and screaming, target.

'My village. In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but, every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have-'

I gasp as I quickly slam the door shut after opening it to see an angry Monstrous Nightmare, just in time to block the stream of fire it aimed it me. "Dragons…" I muttered, eyes wide as my suspicion of a dragon raid was confirmed. Now's my chance!

I open the door again and bolt outside, happy to see the Monstrous Nightmare had flown away from my doorstep. Hopefully I can make it to the forge without becoming a before-dinner-snack.

"ARGH! Mornin'!"

I bite back a startle yip at the sudden greeting, wondering what the hell was wrong with the man. Of all things to say while in the middle of a raid, you choose to greet me. Moving on, to the forge! I got a mission to do, a dad to make proud, and a girl to impress. Doesn't my agenda just sound fun?

Ignoring all the shouts to go home, as usual, I run ahead. 'Come on, gotta get there before-!'

"Hiccup?! What is he doing out aga-?! What are you doing out?! Get inside!

Aaaand there goes my luck.

'That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it?'

I watched as he easily threw an axe at a dragon, making it seem so effortless, yet it would be a miracle if I could even lift the thing past my knee.

'Yes I do.'

I turned and ran as his attention drifted to another man, I had to get to the forge! Well, technically, I had to get what was in the forge.

"Ah, nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!"

I turn to face Gobber as he greeted me. Sarcastic even in the middle of a raid, and people wonder where I got my sarcastic attitude from.

"What, who me? Nah, come on! I'm way to muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all…this!"

"Well, they need toothpicks don't they?"

Touche, Gobber. I rolled me eyes and went to my workstation, only to find it occupied.

"Hrafn, are you seriously eating in the forge again?"

I can't help but smile as I watch my best friend shrug, happily chewing on an apple he got from some mysterious place again. He looked up, his dark brown eyes clearly hiding a smile as they looked at me.

"What? Can't a guy eat without being questioned?"

I roll my eyes and shove him away so I had space to work in. Seriously, one day he's gonna get soot in his mouth and then I will have full 'I told you so' rights! And he knows I will drag those rights out for as long as I can.

"Well-"

"Alright, let's go!"

As soon as that fiery voice registers in my mind, I'm practically falling out the window to look. I see Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and then the one I was looking for.

Astrid.

And the sudden fire behind her didn't do a bad job at making her look even more spectacular.

I groan as I feel my feet leave the ground and find myself being picked up by Gobber. Way to ruin the moment.

"Oh, come on. Let me out, please? I need to make my mark!"

"Oh you've made plenty of marks," Hrafn strolls up to stand by Gobber, still chewing on his apple as he quirks a black eyebrow at me.

"All in the wrong places!" Gobber finishes, setting me down and crossing his arms with that same look on his face he always gets when I want to jump into action.

"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date!" Come on, Gobber, have some faith in me for once. I'm even using my pleading voice! Say yes!

"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" He holds up a bola, only to have it snatched away by a man at the window. I sigh and brighten as I remember my invention.

"Okay, fine. But this will throw it for me!" I pat my invention lightly, and then of course it decides to unload and fire. I wince as it hits a man and he falls with a groan. I can hear Hrafn laughing in the background, clapping his hands while cheering "Do it again!"

Not helping, Hrafn, not helping!

Gobber sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "See. Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"

"Mild calibration issue-"

"Don't you-no- Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all…this."

I watch as his hand gestures to all of me. Feeling the love Gobber, feeling the love.

"But, you just gestured to all of me!"

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!"

My eyes narrow in challenge and I catch Hrafn smile in the corner of my eye.

"Ohhh…"

"Ohhh, yes."

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping his much, raw…Viking-ness…contained?! THERE WILL BE CONSENQUENCES!"

He gives me a deadpan stare, one eyebrow quirked.

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."

I huff as he drops a sword in my arms, sighing and turning to use the grindstone. Hrafn snickers and gives me a grin. "Raw Viking-ness?" he questions, looking ready to laugh. "Oh shut up!" I shoot back with a small frown, though it nearly twitches into a smile as he shrugs and offers me the extra apple he brought with him. This is why we get along, I have someone to argue with, and in the end we always end it with something to eat. That and he at least spares me my pride whenever I say something stupid.

Work goes smoothly for about five minutes. The sounds of the raid fading into the background as me and Hrafn banter and laugh. Though that all ends when we hear a high pitched wail and a scream of "NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!" before there's a bright flash and an explosion.

Gobber's moving around in no time, grabbing for his axe. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there!" He snaps his axe into place on his arm, going to run out the door. "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." And with that, he's gone.

Hrafn gives a small scoff, setting his apple core down on a table and moving to take my place. "No, Gobber, Hiccup does not know the meaning of the words 'Stay put'. That's common knowledge." He chuckled, giving me a playful shove on the shoulder. I rolled my eyes and shove him back before going to get my invention, the Wrangler. "You're just as much to blame! You're the one letting me go." I retorted, watching as he rolled his eyes and moved his messy black bangs out of his face. "Whatever, just go you idiot!" he made a shooing motion as he smiled, then turned to pick up where I left off on the weapons. I run out of the forge without a second thought, going as fast as I can to where I need to be.

It's strangely calm where I am, just what I need to focus. I set up and begin to search the skies for a sign.

" Come on. Gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at…!"

I see a shadow dart by and I put all of my attention on it. I follow it, trying to judge where it's going to go next. My fingers tighten on the trigger before I take a deep breath and shoot. A loud wail catches my attention and I can't help but grin as I see the shadow fall out of the sky and into the forest."Oh, I hit it! YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody see that?!" My voice is loud as I cheer and look around. At the sound of a loud crunch, I turn around to see a Monstrous Nightmare has for one, snuck up on me, and two, crushed my bola launcher. My smile turns into a frown and I gulp. "Except for you."

Not a moment later, I'm running down the hill screaming with a Monstrous Nightmare trying to kill me. Great job, I know.

I hide behind a torch pole and try to gain my breath. Did I lose it?! I lean to look over the side, blinking as I saw it was gone. Huh, alright then! But of course, luck is never my friend. I turn to find it at my other side, eyes slit and looking ready to eat me in one bite. It lunges at me and I turn away, but look back as I hear a thud. My dad jumps away as soon as he lands the punch, ready to defend against an attack as the dragon turns to him. The beast tries to breathe fire, but it seems it caught my bad luck and only a bit of magma falls out of its mouth.

"You're all out."

I close my eyes, I'm part relieved and part downed. On one hand, I just got saved. On the other hand, I am in sooo much trouble.

Then it gets worse when I hear cracking.

I open my eyes to see the pole fall, the torch tumbling off and down the hill. I wince at every scream and thud that follows. "Sorry, Dad…" I mutter, trying my best to avoid his no doubt disappointed gaze. I look up as I hear sheep bleating, wincing as I see them be carried off by dragons.

"….Okay, but I hit a night fury."

Let me just mentally slap myself for blurting that out.

Dad grabs the back of my shirt and begins to drag me off, leaving me stumbling to keep up.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search part out there, before it-"

"STOP! Just…stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

I shuffle nervously and look around, I can feel all their gazes on me, disapproving every move I make.

"Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?" I mutter quietly, trying to calm myself down with a bit of my poorly timed humor.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" He looks exasperated and angry at the same time, with a just a smidge of disappointment.

"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just…kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad."

He looks at me with tired eyes, a deep frown on his face.

"You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." He turns to Gobber. "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

I look down at the ground, I can't look at him right now. Gobber's by my side and then we're walking, all eyes still on me.

"Quite the performance." Great, Tuffnut . This only means the others are here too…

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Stupid Snoutlout, why do we have to be related?

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying so…"

Gobber pushes me along and I pick up the pace, seeing the path get brighter as the sun comes up. "I really did hit one…" I mutter as we get close to the house, clinging to hope that maybe Gobber will at least try to believe me.

"Sure, Hiccup." As expected, he dismisses the idea.

I feel my frustration build up and I can't help but frown. "He never listens!" I grumble, at this point I really just wanted to vent to someone. "Well, it runs in the family." And now I see why people get annoyed at my poorly timed humor. I sigh and look up as we reach the doorstep, jumping onto it and turning to him. "And when he does, it's always with this…disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich," I puff up my chest for my impersonation. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afrai you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talking fish bone!"

"Now you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

I give him my own deadpan stare at that statement. "Thank you for summing that up." I mutter, clearly hurt at that.

He sighs and shakes his head. "Look, the point is, stop trying to be something you're not." He's trying to make me feel better, I know, but…

"I just want to be one of you guys..."

I turn and head into the house before he can say anything else, I don't want to continue this conversation. I'm heading for the backdoor before I pause at a familiar figure already waiting for me there. Hrafn gives a nod in greeting, leaning against the wall with a piece of bread in his hand this time. "How'd the lecturing go?" He asked, tossing me the slice of bread as he prepared himself for a rant. I sighed, catching the bread and plopping down onto the floor. "Well, I got a scowl and an escort back home, so pretty bad." I grumble, biting into the bread with a frown.

Hrafn gave a nod, stretching his arms with a yawn. "Sounds tough. Anyways, you looked like you were in a hurry, so I'll see you later." He gave me a smile and held out a hand to help me back up. I took his hand and let him pull me up, giving a soft chuckle. "By see me later, you mean you're gonna go and draw in my room don't you?" I questioned, giving him whatever I didn't finish of the bread as he shrugged. "Well, I might raid your kitchen to look for some honey for this bread first, but yeah. That was my plan." He laughed and pat my shoulder, already eating the bread. "Of course. Just don't use up the whole jar, okay? I need some too, you know." He just gave a nonchalant wave of his hand and walked off to the kitchen with a happy stride. I rolled me eyes and left the house, jogging into the forest with a smile. That would be another reason we're friends, he knows when I need to talk and when I just need to be by myself. Though he really needs to stop raiding my kitchen, he eats more than a dragon.


End file.
